The owner of chemical manufacturer D.B. Western is accused of illegally dumping thousands of tons of toxic waste at his Central Oregon ranch.

Dennis Beetham of North Bend owns a company called D.B. Western, which has designed and built 29 formaldehyde and resin plants for clients around the world, according to its Web site. The company describes a plant it built in Houston, Texas, as the largest formaldehyde facility in the world, capable of making 1.2 billion pounds a year. Formaldehyde has a variety of uses, from textiles to wood products.

Earlier this month, a federal grand jury indicted Beetham on felony charges that he illegally dumped more than 3,500 tons of waste from his factories, shipped in from plants as far away as Minnesota, on a 500-plus acre ranch in Powell Butte, near Prineville.